Over the years, many of you, my friends, have come over to the Mac. I have been “the Mac Guy” for many of you switchers and now I need to get the word out about the first real malware for the Mac.

It goes by the name of MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector, MacGuard, and Mac?????????

It pretends to be an anti-virus software, but its only purpose is to get you to give it your credit card info.

It tries to scare you by causing lots of pop ups of viagra ads and R rated material. These tactics are fairly common on the PC but are new to us Mac people, so don’t be afraid, just follow the instructions that Apple gives at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4650.

Apple has just released a software update to remove the malware, but this info may still be helpful to some of you.

Below are some highlights of the Apple Support article.

How to avoid installing this malware
If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn’t work, then Force Quit the browser.
In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.
1. Go into the Downloads folder or your preferred download location.
2. Drag the installer to the Trash.
3. Empty the Trash.

If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:
• Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
• Follow removal instructions at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4650